Southwyck property

The Canton store is too close and we are not big enough to support our own. http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/about_ikea/facts_and_figures/store_openings.html

Plus, there's one in Columbus, too, forgot that, so yeah, we're not population-dense enough on our own, just like we'll never get a Trader Joe's or a Cabela's, too close to already established stores.

Wait, guess it's Cinci and the PA line, should read my own link, lol

Sorry Fred, but I'm going to say that is an old idea and one that doesn't make sense. Toledo is not big enough to support an Ikea.

The property should sit vacant until the right developer comes up with something that most people can live with. Personally, I would like to see a newer, better center with some residential and office mixed in - two levels minimum. Given the neighboring density and infrastructure, that parcel has the potential to be a regional showpiece.

I would shop the shit out of a southwyck ikea. So would all 30,000+ bgsu students 20 minutes away. It would be a great addition but it ain't happening. Need more than a turnpike exit

It would definitely draw from Cleveland, particularly those who view going to P*ttsb*rgh or the M-state as a traitorous activity. Not to mention the draw from say Fort Wayne and Columbus. The rumor mill had IKEA looking out on Airport Highway some time ago.

"I would shop the shit out of a southwyck ikea."

Cracked me up.

I heard this rumor as well, but wrote it off as being too close to the Canton store. Chicago is the nearest Ikea on the I80/90 corridor; so it might actually make sense to consider the location. I guess we can hope!

nana: I can certainly understand why Cabela's would not locate here - the Dundee location is just a few miles up the road AND we have Bass Pro. IMHO, Trader Joe's is another issue. The nearest location(s) would be either Ann Arbor or Northville, MI (8 mile and Haggerty).

That's a considerable distance and I truly believe a TJ's would do well here. Too bad the company apparently doesn't think so.

As for Ikea, doubt that would happen. Those stores are on par with a Cabela's or Bass Pro when it comes to distance/population between locations.

These rumors about certain national chains seems to resurface every year. Toledo is not a big enough city with enough car counts, disposable income and is too close geographically to existing sites. Besided with everyon losing all of thier money at the new casino....everyone will now be at Aldi's.

That's actually exactly how casinos work. Which is why I'm glad there are no bars in town, otherwise we'd all be alcoholics.

Sometimes chains work in confusing ways.. I remember my mom and sister being pissed off because Lima had an Old Navy at one point, and Toledo didn't. How The Gap chose Lima, a metro area of 100K, over Toledo's 650K metro area is beyond me. So you never know what kind of variables they're factoring in.

Toledo's Metro area population is 287,208 for the record.

Greater Toledo has a population of around 650k

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo,_Ohio_metropolitan_area

The Toledo Metropolitan Area is a metropolitan area centered in the American city of Toledo, Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 651,429.

Cabela's is also set to open a new store in the Polaris area of Columbus, another close location for the Toledo+south area of Northern Ohio.

Ooops. My population was just the city of toledo. I guess there are more of us in the burbs.

Of course using numbers that include the counties of Fulton, Ottawa and Wood to me don't reflect population of Toledo. But it has been a while since I took a statistics class.

Well if we're just going by city population, it's roughly 40K for Lima and 300K for Toledo, which is an even greater discrepancy. So, regardless of numbers, the point remains: chains don't always do the logical thing when it comes to pure numbers.

I agree.

All the shoppers would have to do is beware of parking lot robbers, rapists, and shooters.
For gosh sake, Westfield can't even guarantee security and it's in a relatively better neighborhood.
I say wait a year or so until the riff-raff relocates to the casino area, then try and develop that area.

The neighborhood around SW is fine. I live in it and run a couple miles every other day past the old mall site. Never had an issue.

The Cabelas in Columbus is going to be a small store, smaller than the Rossford Bass pro.

That property is just too big for an Ikea. Although I love the idea I think nana is right, it's too close to other locations. I think a nice outlet mall would be a perfect fit for this location. Down in Monroe OH they recently opened up the Cincinnati Prime Outlet mall and it's very nice. It has the same outdoor mall setup as Levis and Fallen Timbers but it has stores with better prices. Now in a perfect world it would be nice to have a upscale outlet mall with an ikea as an anchor store.

Here's the website for the Cincinnati Prime Outlet mall:
http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=79

Im all for a nice outlet mall. The one in Howell Mi is really nice, The Tanger Outlet Mall. That would be a nice fit for the Southwyck property. Just as long as its not like the one in Monroe MI, I think it would do really well.

I too would shop the shit out of an IKEA. I still wish the developers of Fallen Timbers would have focused on that property. I know the reasons why they didn't, but it's still a bummer.

The majority, if not all, of the IKEA stores around the country are visible from a major interstate highway.

LA--off I-405
Miami/Ft. Lauderdale--off I-595
Cincinnati--off I-75
Washington D.C.--off I-95; second location off Beltway (I-495)

Reynolds Road, a fine...fine...roadway, is not a major interstate. Sorry to burst your bubble...

Ikea - Something that looks really nice from a distance, but when you get closer, you realize it's actually very cheap.

"That chick looks hot from here, but trust me, she's totally ikea!"

Reynolds Road may not be an interstate but I-80 is.

The point being, the IKEA stores are always visible from the interstate. The Southwyck property is not visible...even when the mall was there...from I-80/90.

The Southwyck property does not fit the profile of where IKEA locates their stores.

the IKEA stores are always visible from the interstate.

What interstate is the Canton, Mi store visible from?

Go back to my original point...

The majority, if not all, of the IKEA stores...

An exception or two does not disprove my point.

Incidentally, according to Google maps, the IKEA in Canton is 0.3 miles away from the freeway off ramp, while the Southwyck property is double that distance away from I-80/90 (0.7 miles).

I'm sorry, I just don't see it for the Southwyck property. And I like IKEA. I'm wearing a pair of extremely ugly (but damn comfortable) $4 garden clogs from IKEA right now.

But why would they build a store here with a store in the Detroit area less than an hour away from Toledo...unless they estimated a HUGE ROI on building here....which is very, very unlikely given the population here, the non-premium location, etc.?

I-275. It's right there off the highway.

I used to live in Canton, MI...right around the corner from the IKEA location.

When I lived there, that location was a Super Kmart, and I did most of my grocery shopping there.

Ikea in Orlando is about as visible from the highway as Southwyck is from I-80.

Ikea in Orlando is about as visible from the highway as Southwyck is from I-80.

Point taken. It is not visible from the highway.

IKEA in Orlando is also next to a gigantic, successful shopping mall (Millenia) with many other large and medium sized successful stores nearby (Target, BJ's Wholesale Club, etc.).

The property formerly known as Southwyck has next to it....Steak & Shake? Toys R Us? The "Dreamplex"? Savers? Waffle House? Not quite the same neighborhood. The Orlando and Toledo properties are not equivalent and not attractive to IKEA.

If you want to dream about an IKEA, dream about it somewhere more plausible. Spring Meadows? Levis Commons area? Down I-75 from the new casino?

True Mom2, the Canton IKEA is by I275 but I can get off the Turn Pike onto Reynolds and be at SW faster than a person can get off I275 and be at IKEA. Also, I don't think IKEA is visible from it either.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "visible."

Do you have a full view of the entire building from the highway, like the IKEA north of Cincy? No.

Can you see the distinctive blue and yellow IKEA signage on the building from the highway? Yes.

I haven't been to the Canton IKEA yet. (Though I might pop in this weekend, since I'll be up by my old stomping grounds for another event.)

However, like I said before, I did all of my grocery shopping at the store that was previously located on the IKEA property. It's definitely quickly accessible by highway.

I rarely take the Reynolds Rd turnpike exit, so I really can't say one way or the other. But I'm a little skeptical that someone could pass through the toll booths faster than someone could get off I-275 at Ford Rd.

But hey, if the powers that be can get IKEA or any other positive development in at Southwyck, I certainly won't complain. I would totally support a company coming in and spending money to make that area thrive again.

If you're not taking the turnpike (as most locals would not), it'll take you between 10 to 15 minutes to fight your way through traffic to get to the Southwyck location - whether you're coming from the Airport exit or the Salisbury Rd exit.

I don't live on that end of town so I find that area incredibly inconvenient to get to. We love to eat at the Tandoor across the street from the old Southwyck but we rarely do because of this.

The Super Cinemas building would have been a much better location if it was actually feasible for the local market to support an Ikea. That building was just purchased by Art Van though.

Coincidentally, the Blade just posted today that there is a potential buyer for the Southwyck site:

http://www.toledoblade.com/Retail/2012/05/31/Potential-buyer-steps-forward-for-former-Southwyck.html

P.S. Ooh...agree that the Super Cinemas location would have probably been good for an IKEA type place. At least it has been purchased by someone though!

mom2's article is interesting timing, given the other thread going on at the moment regarding the repavement of Southwyck Blvd. Is anything in this town ever a coincidence?

Sensor, the IKEA sign in Canton is visible from 275 just as you get off exit 25, and you can def see it from the eway as you go by, so you can always go up and come back. It's 1/2 mile west of the exit and an easy right turn off Ford into the parking lot or at the preceding intersection. Been there many many times coz The Hub's BMW shop is 1/2 to the east. Add a third for shopping the shit out of the place. :)

Potential buyer steps forward for former Southwyck

http://www.toledoblade.com/Retail/2012/05/31/Potential-buyer-steps-forward-for-former-Southwyck.html

Oh heck, I might as well make it three.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Retail/2012/05/31/Potential-buyer-steps-forward-for-former-Southwyck.html

What is going on with the Dreamplex? Do they still owe back taxes? I know they received a loan/grant from the city. I drove by the Clarion today. Tall grass and broken windows. They are incidentally $135,000 behind on their taxes.

Polemical question...based upon the surrounding real estate, what could possibly be built at Southwyck? More subsidized housing? It stuns me. That whole area (Brownstone, Cresthaven, etc.) used to be nice...upscale almost. Now it is rife w/Section 8 properties, which seems to be the only growth industry in the city?

Most of the homes are still nice and yards are kept up. I jog or drive down Creasthaven and Brownstone everyday.

Someone needs to start an online petition to bring an Ikea to the Southwyck location. Make one and see how many signatures it gets. I would sign it :)